Plate bending machine



April 6, 1954 G. J. E. EKBERG 2,674,294-

PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1953 I/vvi vrok:

Gum/AR d E. EABERG' Patented Apr. 6, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPLATE BENDING MACHINE Application February 19, 1953, Serial No. 337,808

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to plate bending machines of the typewhich operates with rolls.

Such machines involve certain well-known difficulties in respect ofbending plates into conical shape.

The invention has for its object to remedy this drawback and to enable,by including auxiliary means, the bending of conical mantles and thelike.

The main characterizing feature of the plate bending machine accordingto the invention resides in that it comprises a pin which is adapted,during the bending operation, to be moved into engagement with one ofthe rolls in a substantially radial direction so as to serve as anabutment for one edge of the blank to be bent.

In order to explain the invention reference is had to the accompanyingdrawing which illustrates an embodiment thereof and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of a bending machine havingthree rolls and incorporating the invention.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding side view thereof, also partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof taken along line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4, to a larger scale, illustrates a part there of more in detail.

The machine illustrated in the drawing comprises a frame consisting oftwo end members I and 2 interconnected by bars 3. In these end memberstwo lower rolls 4 and 5, respectively, are journalled in a known manner.The journals of the rolls are indicated at 4', 4" and 5, 5",respectively. The journals project through the left hand end piece I andcarry gear wheels 6 and 1, respectively. These gear wheels are engagedby a common pinion (not shown) which rotates the lower rolls in the samesense. The source of power may be an electrical motor.

The upper roll 8 of the machine is mounted with one journal 8 in abearing which is vertically adjustable in the end member I by means of ascrew 9. Its other journal 8 is, in a similar manner, mounted in abearing [2 which is vertically adjustable by means of a screw II and ismounted in a bracket I3 on the right hand frame end member 2. Thebracket l3 has a pin I4 which engages a bore or bearing I in the frameend member 2, and is provided with a suitable locking device whereby itcan be secured to the frame end member in a vertical position.

The arrangement so far described is previously 2 known and forms no partof the invention presently claimed.

The upper roll 8 is formed near its right hand end with acircumferential groove l6. Into this groove a cylindrical pin 58provided in a holder ll secured to the right hand end member 2 may beengaged. The pin it is guided in a sleeve l9 and is supported in thesleeve on a helical spring 20 the lower end of which is supported on athrust bearing 2! of the anti-friction type disposed on the bottom ofthe sleeve, whereby the pin it will be easily rotatable in the sleeve[9. The sleeve as, in its turn, is displaceably and rotatably mounted inthe socket-shaped holder ll attached to the frame end member 2 and isprovided with a lever or handle 22 which projects through an inclinedslot 23 in the holder ll. It will thus be possible, by rocking the lever22 along the slot, to adjust the pin it vertically so as to cause thesame to be engaged into or withdrawn from the circumferential groove ISin the upper roll 8.

To bend sheet-metal plates into cylindrical shape the machine isoperated in the conventional manner in which case the pin I8 isretracted from the groove is in the upper roll 8.

On the other hand, if a piece of sheet-metal is to be bent into conicalshape, the pin it, in the manner described in the foregoing, is engagedinto the groove Hi. The upper roll 8 is set at an angle by means of thescrews 9 and II causing the bending radius to be greater at the lefthand end of the machine than at the right hand end thereof where the pin[8 is engaged in the groove 16. The plate 24 to be bent is introducedbetween the upper roll 8 and the lower rolls 4, 5 and is fed through themachine. Due to the inclination of the upper roll, the plate, during thebending operation, will be kept pressed against the pin 58 which willalso exert a certain braking action on the plate edge supported on thesame, the opposite edge portion of the plate being advanced at a greaterrate due to the inclination of the upper roll, so that the plate willtwist and get the desired conical shape.

After the bending operation the bracket I3 may be pulled slightlyoutward and be turned laterally whereby the bent plate can be removedfrom the machine.

Owing to the spring 20, the pin [8 will be kept automatically inengagement with the'upper roll in every adjusted angular position of thelatter.

It will be understood that the embodiment described in the foregoing andillustrated in the accompanying drawing is susceptible of variousmodifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a plate bending machine, a frame, two parallel cylindrical rollsrotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to be driven in the samedirection, a third cylindrical roll situated substantially in the medianplane between the two first-mentioned rolls and freely rotatably mountedin said frame in adjustable bearings permitting said third roll to beinclined relatively to the two first-mentioned rolls for producingconical bends, a tubular support mounted in fixed relation to said frameadjacent one end of said third roll and substantially perpendicularly toits axis, and a pin slidably mounted in said tubular support and movableintoengagement with the periphery of said third roll to serve as anabutment for the edge of a plate when producing a conical bend.

2. In a plate bending machine, a frame, two parallel cylindrical rollsrotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to be driven in the samedirection, a third cylindrical roll situated substantially in the medianplane between the two first-mentioned rolls and freely rotatably mountedin said frame in adjustable bearings permitting said third roll to beinclined relatively to the two first-mentioned rolls for producingconical bends, said third roll being provided with a peripheral grooveadjacent one end, a tubular support mounted in fixed relation to saidframe adjacent the grooved end of said third roll and substantiallyperpendicularly to its axis, and a pin slidably mounted in said tubularsupport and movable into engagement with said peripheral groove to serveas an abutment for the edge of a plate when producing a conical bend.

3. In a plate bending machine, a frame, two parallel cylindrical rollsrotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to be driven in the samedirection, a third cylindrical roll situated substantially in the medianplane between the two firstmentioned rolls and freely rotatably mountedin said frame in adjustable bearings permitting said third roll to beinclined relatively to the two firstmentioned rolls for producingconical bends, said third roll being provided with a peripheral grooveadjacent one end, a tubular support mounted in fixed relation to saidframe adjacent the grooved end of said third roll and substantiallyperpendicularly to its axis, and a pin rotatably mounted in said tubularsupport and bein slidable therein into engagement with said peripheralgroove to serve as an abutment for the edge of a plate when producingaconical bend.

4. In a plate bending machine, a frame, two parallel cylindrical rollsrotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to be driven to the samedirection, a third cylindrical roll situated substantially in the medianplane between the two first-mentioned rolls and freely rotatably mountedin said frame in adjustable bearings permitting said third roll to beenclined relatively to the two first-mentioned rolls for producingconical bends, said third roll bein provided with a peripheral grooveadjacent one end, a tubular support mounted in fixed relation to saidframe adjacent the grooved end of said third roll and substantiallyperpendicularly to its axis, a sleeve member mounted in said tubularsupport and adjustable therein in axial direction, and a pin yieldinglyand rotatably mounted in said sleeve member and movable therewith intoengagement with said peripheral groove to serve as an abutment for theedge of a plate when producing a conical bend.

5. In a plate bending machine, a frame, two parallel cylindrical rollsrotatably mounted in said frame and adapted to be driven in the samedirection, a third cylindrical roll situated substantially in the medianplane between the two first-mentioned rolls and freely rotatably mountedin said frame in adjustable bearings permitting said third roll to beinclined relatively to the two first-mentioned rolls for producingconical bends, said third roll being provided with a peripheral grooveadjacent one end, a tubular support mounted in fixed relation to saidframe adjacent the grooved end of said third roll and substantiallyperpendicularly to its axis, a sleeve member slidably mounted in saidtubular support and provided with an arm extending through an inclinedslot in said support so as to be adjustable in axial direction, a thrustbearing mounted in said sleev member, a helical spring carried by saidthrust bearing, and a pin resting on said helical spring and beingmovable together with said sleeve member into engagement with saidperipheral groove to serve as an abutment for the edge of a plate whenproducing a conical bend.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 16,395 Ostrander Jan. 13, 1857 49,045 Valentine July 25, 1865401,216 Sagendorph Apr. 9, 1889 760,406 Gregersen May 17, 1904 965,171Erickson July 26, 1910 1,669,957 Wagner May 15, 1928 2,410,603Dubosclard Nov. 15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 314,807Germany Oct. 14, 1919

